The nausea was killing me. It came to me as soon as I got up thinking about what I would have to do that day.

Unfortunately for me, the time for my test had arrived and instead of giving me encouragement, my mind kept listing everything that could go wrong.

I didn't even have the stomach to eat breakfast, which almost made Demian go crazy. At least he had some compassion for me and he let me go without even a warning.

"Everything is going to be fine, with our alpha on our side we have nothing to fear," my wolf told me.

Do you think he's going to be there? I asked her, letting my fear come to light.

I wasn't sure when it came to Almec anymore.

My love for him led me to believe that he would come looking for me to accompany me, which is why I was still waiting sitting on the stairs. However, the last few days had shown me that Almec had his own demons to battle and he barely had time to leave his office.

"I'm sure he'll come any minute," my wolf replied. "There's still a little while before we have to leave."

We waited for him for half an hour, he should have come down by now.

The cold from the steps had already spread to my legs and my back hurt from being hunched over. My whole body was asking me to get up at once, but I wasn't ready to let my hopes die.

"He's our mate, he's coming," she insisted.

Hope faded little by little as the minutes went by, and once my time was up it had already turned into disappointment.

I stood up, dusting the back of my pants, and finished down the last four steps.

"You're leaving now?" The person I was waiting for asked me.

The biggest smile appeared on my face as I turned to see Almec.

"I don't want to be late on the first day," I told him. "I have to give the best impression."

The nausea disappeared when Almec arrived at my side, just by feeling his arms around my waist I already felt invincible.

"They're going to love you once they really know you," he told me, before kissing my forehead. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself, remember that you are only there to show that you are going to be a good luna, don't let them take advantage of that."

"Take advantage?" I asked him, confused by his words.

"Not everyone has good intentions, I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to convince you to take over their duties. If someone tries to be smart, tell Geldra immediately."

Why Geldra? There was no point in me going to her when I had Almec by my side unless he wasn't going to come with me.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked him, fighting the lump that formed in my throat.

Almec brought his hand towards my mate mark and began to caress it. He looked away from my face to my neck without saying anything, something told me he was trying to find the best way to confess the truth.

"I have another commitment, but Geldra is going to be there at all times, with her there you will be safe."

I wanted to reproach him out loud, to make him understand that he was abandoning me in one of the most decisive moments of my life, yet, I knew that I shouldn't get in the way of his duty as alpha. It had been me who told him that I understood that he had a pack to lead, it would be hypocritical of me to start complaining about that.

But was it really about the well-being of the pack? Almec had responsibilities before and still, he found a way to stay by my side.

"Will you at least walk with me to town?" I asked him, internally begging him to say yes.

"Of course, I have to go to town anyway," he cupped my face and closed the distance between us in a kiss.

The warmth of his lips against mine convinced me that everything was going to be okay. I hugged his neck to not let him go while I kissed him back desperately.

I missed his company so much that even the simplest kiss felt like a blessing.

"I'm going to try to finish as quickly as possible so I can go see you," Almec promised me after breaking the kiss. "I'm sorry for not being there, but I have to make sure the Moon Guardians members are not putting the pack in danger."

"So you're going to keep an eye on them yourself?"

"No, I can't be following them all the time." Almec moved his hands away from my face. "I'm going to choose a group of warriors to take care of them, I have to talk to them and organize the guards. I can't let them get close to you."

"I'm guessing this is about Romeo asking Myra about me." I looked him directly in the eyes, standing straight.

"How do you know about that?" Almec looked surprised.

"Adira thought you told me, why did you hide it from me? It's not that big of a deal either," I asked him, grabbing his hand so he knew I wasn't angry.

"I didn't want to scare you, especially when we don't know his true intentions."

"I may have an idea," I confessed. "When you were talking to Kilma after the funeral, Priscilla came up to me and told me that if things go wrong here Faustina and I are welcome to go to her pack."

I saw panic in Almec's eyes. His trembling hands tried to reach out for me but he regretted it at the last moment and lowered them again.

"I'll try to keep them as far away from you and Faustina as possible," he told me. "They must know something about you, that would explain why they can escape your powers. I promise I'll get to the bottom of it."

"You should be careful too. I think they are trying to play with your feelings, making you unstable is the only way they can beat someone as strong as you."

***

Everyone in the town knew why I was there that day, there was no doubt about it. I could feel the weight of the hundreds of glances that followed me as I walked with Almec to the hospital, making me lower my head.

"You're going to do an excellent job." Almec encouraged me, stroking the back of my hand. "I'm sure of that."

"I'll try to make you proud," I answered with a smile, ignoring the trembling of my legs.

Geldra was waiting for us at one of the back doors of the hospital, scaring people who tried to pass by with her unfriendly face.

As soon as she saw us, she took her body off the threshold and approached us, almost running.

"I'll take her from here," she said, grabbing my arm.

Almec grunted and tightened his grip on my hand.

"Let her go," he warned Geldra. "I still have to say goodbye."

"Calm down, I'm not going to do anything to her." Geldra let go of my arm. "You better do it quickly or we'll be late."

"Give me a minute." Almec waved Geldra away and then he cupped my face, caressing me under my cheekbones. "I know it's hard but I'm going to need you to relax. I don't want you to spend the whole afternoon suffering from your nerves and I can assure you that most of the people inside the hospital are on your side. Just be authentic and they will love you."

"I can't promise you anything," I said, causing Almec to frown at me. "But I'm going to try."

"Don't separate yourself from Geldra, it's safer that way," he told me before kissing my forehead. "I'm sorry for not being with you today, I promise that I will accompany you tomorrow."

"Alright, let's cut the emotional moment, Valentina can't be late on her first day," Geldra told us, patting Almec on the back. "I'll take care of her, you go do your job."

"Thank you, I owe you one." Almec released me, taking a step back.

"Don't even mention it," Geldra replied, grabbing my wrist. "Arguing with old women is one of my favorite hobbies. I will teach Valentina how to defend herself from her clutches."

"That's just the skill I needed," I joked, following her through the door.

The hospital was not very different from the ones I knew. It had the same white hallways illuminated by a blinding light, the same waiting rooms with plastic chairs, and even the drawings taped to the wall of the pediatric area seemed familiar to me. The only difference was the small number of people, probably because the pack did not have that many inhabitants.

"Where are we going?" I asked Geldra after we reached the end of another hallway.

"To the old storage room, when they added a new one, the old one became the perfect place for the women's association."

"We have a women's association?"

"Yes, they are mostly retired old women who still want to help the pack. They tend to complain about everything but they have a good heart," Geldra explained to me. "Today they are ordering the toys they got from the collection they made for the children. Get ready for them to force us to do all the hard work. Those ladies would even put Almec to work."

When Geldra said heavy work, I imagined something easy like carrying boxes of toys, not having to move tables and a shelf.

"That's perfect," Mrs. Quentins, or Perl as she preferred to be called, told us. "Isn't it precious? Now we have somewhere to store our materials."

"It's old and needs a coat of paint," Geldra answered, looking at the shelf.

"How can you say something like that about my son's generous donation," Fabria complained, fixing her green gaze on Geldra. "At least he gave us a gift, what did you, the beta of the pack, give us?"

"I have more important tasks." Geldra leaned against the table in the center of the room, hiding her smile.

She was having a lot of fun making the women angry, unlike me, Geldra didn't care what they thought of her.

While the beta made malicious comments, I moved from one side of the small room to the other asking if they needed help.

I was very relieved that the association members treated me kindly even though they made me rearrange the stacks of toys on the benches against the wall again and again because of their indecision.

"What are you doing? We have no time to rest." Mrs. Bergles, president of the association, asked Geldra.

She put a teddy bear on the right pile and winked at me before fixing her curly hair into a ponytail.

"Why don't you behave like Valentina? She knows how to respect her elders," Mrs. Bergles continued. "A new batch of toys arrived, they are at the reception, can you young girls go and bring them?"

"Of course," I started walking towards the door immediately.

"I guess I have no choice," Geldra said, following me. We were barely out of the room when she grabbed my arm. "You don't have to do everything they ask, you can say no if they get too intense."

"It's okay, it's to help the kids so I don't mind working," I assured her with a smile.

We only needed to see the number of boxes that were at the reception to understand that we would have to make more than one trip to move everything.

Geldra let me take the lead despite being stronger and faster than me. I could feel her gaze following me at all times, it was like having a bodyguard.

"Why don't you go ahead to save time?" I asked her.

"Because I don't want Almec to rip my head off. Plus this way I can take some rest."

"What danger could there be in a hospital? Besides, if something happens I can call you," I insisted when the first group finished entering the room. "Unless you want to be here all afternoon."

"Okay, but don't get into trouble," Geldra warned me, quickening her pace down the hallway toward the reception.

I was halfway there when I heard someone mention my name. Against my better judgment, I approached the room where the voices were coming from.

"I think it's all an act," someone said. "No one can be that good, did you see how she runs to work?"

"She can't be the luna with such a basic character," the other woman responded. "I feel sorry for the poor girl, she's not made for this life."

"She doesn't deserve it. If she keeps this up there's no way she's going to win my vote."

I had heard enough, I didn't need to know more. Their words followed me the rest of the way, bringing out the worst feelings inside me.

No matter how hard I try, I will never belong here, I thought as my tears fell.

"What's taking you so long?" Geldra yelled at me from the reception, attracting looks of rejection.

I wiped my tears quickly and faked a smile. "I got lost on the way."

"I think it's best for both of us that I stay with you," she told me, holding up a box. "Let's hurry up, I can't wait to get this over with."

"Me neither," I answered. The sooner I got away from those women, the better for me.